Amazing MUW readers Pam and Rebecca each managed to track down a Craigslist posting that reveals the store’s identity as Teavana, a chain of specialty tea shops that was recently acquired by Starbucks.

As our name implies, Teavana’s goal is to be a heaven of tea and to offer our customers the healthy lifestyle and wonderful tastes of tea. This unique name is meant to describe the experience each customer has with our tea and our staff.

The chain has several hundred locations around North America, but mostly in shopping malls (there are 12 in New York state, 11 of which are in malls, along with one free-standing store on the UES).

Teavana must be doing something right, because Starbucks swooped in and bought them for $620 million in November. Huffington Post has the details, including the following notes:

The plan is to grow Teavana’s footprint beyond the suburban mall with stand-alone shops around the world, while adding tea bars where customers can buy hot and cold drinks.

The deal marks Starbucks latest push to expand beyond its cafes, with the company facing intensifying competition from fast-food chains offering specialty coffees.

I stopped by during their liquidation sale and briefly spoke to the owner. While an increase in rent did play a role in the decision to close shop, she told me the biggest factor was that the specialty shop was simply no longer able to compete in the marketplace.